Dan Elliott

Sunday, December 26, 2010

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Some kids who call NORAD on Christmas Eve to find out where Santa is hang up as soon as a volunteer answers the phone -- probably because they expected a recording and not a real person, veteran Santa trackers say.

There were some especially awed kids Friday, when one of the people answering the phone was first lady Michelle Obama.

A telephone link from Hawaii, where the Obamas are on vacation, allowed her to pitch in with volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., who were answering phone calls and e-mails for the North American Aerospace Defense Command's Santa-tracking program.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Strangers sometimes ask if they can touch 1-year-old Coltyn Hermanstorfer on the head or take his photo after he and his mother, Tracy, recovered from a near-death experience during childbirth last Christmas Eve.

Mike Hermanstorfer isn't convinced of that -- "We'll find that out later in life," he said -- but he has no doubt it was a miracle, and he can understand if others want to get as close to it as they can.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- A baby-faced, chain-smoking infantryman who was on a prescribed antidepressant when he allegedly shot and killed a captured Taliban member is the latest challenge to the Army's ability to address mental health problems in the ranks while fighting two lengthy wars.

Pfc. David Lawrence, 20, also told family members before the shooting he was hearing voices.

Lawrence is charged with premeditated murder in the Oct. 17 death of the prisoner, who prosecutors say was asleep in a jail cell when he was shot. If convicted, Lawrence could face execution or life in prison.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

DENVER -- China has pulled off a tricky and uncommon feat in space flight, maneuvering one of its satellites to within about 300 yards of another while they were orbiting the Earth, space analysts say.

Some analysts view the rendezvous as a potentially ominous sign of China's ability to carry out a hostile act or espionage against a rival satellite. Others say it could have been a test of docking skills.

China has not said why it conducted the maneuver, but it comes as the nation is ambitiously expanding its space program, including building a space station and conducting lunar missions. It is expected to launch the first module of its space station next year, followed by a manned spacecraft to dock with it.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

DENVER -- A new Air Force manual for cyberwarfare describes a shadowy, fast-changing world where anonymous enemies can carry out devastating attacks in seconds and where conventional ideas about time and space don't apply.

Much of the 62-page manual is a dry compendium of definitions, acronyms and explanations of who reports to whom. But it occasionally veers into scenarios that sound more like computer games than flesh-and-blood warfare.

It dwells mostly on protecting U.S. military computer networks and makes little mention of attacking others. That could signal the Pentagon wants to keep its offensive plans secret, or that its chief goal is fending off cyberattacks to keep its networks up and running, analysts said.

Napolitano said an agreement between the military and Homeland Security, announced this month, takes privacy and civil liberties into account.

"We're not going to have two NSAs, we're going to have one NSA that can appropriately be used for defense purposes but also appropriately used for civilian purposes," Napolitano told the National Symposium on Homeland Security and Defense.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Academy reversed course on Friday and released the results of a survey that showed mixed results on the school's efforts to improve religious and racial tolerance and limit sexual harassment.

The survey, conducted in December and January, showed improvements in making minority groups feel more accepted and in reducing the number who say they feel pressured by others to participate in religious activities.

But it found that many cadets believe that some religious and racial minorities face discrimintation and harassment, and an increasing percentage of the faculty and staff believe that sexual harassment occurs at the school.